Handling the return from a thru-hike

[swatcat]

So I just finished a thru-hike a week ago and already am having struggles with returning to my life! I have a place to live, but no job yet, and I have a strong impulse to shake everything up. I don't really know what I want life to look like anymore.

Are there others with advice about the Return? What was your experience? Were there certain things you did that were helpful in making a balanced transition from trail life to non-trail life?

Thanks,

The Mystery Chicken
GAME 07

[Lone Wolf]

i went to jail, got out, started working again to save for another AT hike. been doin't that 20 some years now. not the jail part.:)

[Tha Wookie]

So I just finished a thru-hike a week ago and already am having struggles with returning to my life! I have a place to live, but no job yet, and I have a strong impulse to shake everything up. I don't really know what I want life to look like anymore.

Are there others with advice about the Return? What was your experience? Were there certain things you did that were helpful in making a balanced transition from trail life to non-trail life?

Thanks,

The Mystery Chicken
GAME 07

I raked leaves and went to grad school. i got into an outdoor rec program at UGA. There are several of them, contact me if you're interested in hearing more about them.

It was a good way to help process that life-changing experience, give my self more of an edge on defining my life as I want it, and have the summers/breaks available for hiking. Then I got a paid research and teaching assistantship, taught backpacking.

Now in aPhd program

[superman]

Many people who hike the AT are at a changing point in their lives. Those folks put a lot of thought into where to go and what to do following their AT hike. I imagine that there are those who come up with constructive alternatives and act on them when they return to the world. The rest of us come home and life takes off in some direction that could never have been anticipated. If you don't make the decisions as to where to go and what to do life will. I'm 60 years old and I've gotten here by accident and random chance. It's worked out in the long run but I just held on and went for the ride called my life.
It's all good and the choices are yours to make right now.:-?

[Blue Jay]

So I just finished a thru-hike a week ago and already am having struggles with returning to my life!

This is the hardest part of thruhiking, many of us never return. Prior to a thru people worry about bears or storms or what to eat. During a thru all you think about is food and how far you'll walk today. You become addicted to the white blaze. You have been as free as a human can be in this world, don't give that up. Avoid all of the cages that are baited with money and comfort and status. You'll be alright, you of all people, now know where the holes in the fences are and there is nothing more valuable than that, other than being cold, wet, tired, hungry and still happy. You're still on your thru, just now you make the blazes.

[wakapak]

very well put Blue Jay! When i started my first thru, i remember my parents saying "go and get this outta your system" HA! It got into me more than anything...turns out it got into them too, they have been doing trail magic ever since whenever they can. And like you said, I have been making my own blazes ever since...sure the journey has it's ups and downs and rugged times like the trail, but all in all it's enjoyable and full of wonderful people!

[Footslogger]

So I just finished a thru-hike a week ago and already am having struggles with returning to my life! I have a place to live, but no job yet, and I have a strong impulse to shake everything up. I don't really know what I want life to look like anymore.

Are there others with advice about the Return? What was your experience? Were there certain things you did that were helpful in making a balanced transition from trail life to non-trail life?

Thanks,

The Mystery Chicken
GAME 07

=======================================

Yo Chicken ...Footslogger here. We met at Moxie Bald Lean-to and gave you and your buds a ride out to ME 15 to hike the Wilderness - remember ??

Made the same transition after my thru in 2003. I think it varies alot from person to person but regardless it ain't easy. My first suggestion, if you have the luxury of time, is to kick back and reflect on what you've just accomplished. If you try and rush back into something your attention to the new opportunity will be clouded with flashbacks about the trail.

Accept the fact that other than those who have done a distance hike, most people won't be able to relate to your mental state or accomplishment. Non-hikers are probably the worst people to reach out to for support following a thru-hike, at least in my experience.

Think back over the past several months and develop a list of things you told yourself you would NEVER do again for a living and on the converse ...try and come up with a list of things (given your recent experience) that make your heart sing or bring you pleasure.

For me the trail was an exercise in "elimination", at least in terms of what I wanted to do for work afterwards. I had been a software analyst prior to hiking the trail. One thing I realized over those months was that I really did NOT want to go back to that type of work. I thought long and hard about what it was about the trail that I truly enjoyed. I tried to package that into how I wanted to spend my time off-trail. I realized that MONEY wasn't what really motivated me. I chose something that truly brought me satisfaction and decided to put all my energy into it.

Am I happy ?? ...not as happy as I was on the trail. But, all things considered, I am about as happy I could be in the working world.

Best of luck to you my friend. Wishing you a smooth transition. Just remember that energy flows in the direction of thought !!

All the best ...

'Slogger (BadAss Turtle wishes you her best as well)

[rambunny]

Congratulations. Things that helped me with re-entry 4 times is to have another person to talk to that has thru hiked. Giving back of what you've recieved-join a local trail maintenance club, give a speech at a Boy Scout meeting. Buy thru hiking books from ATC and hole up for the winter in your bedroom with the long AT map somewhere on the wall,and sigh alot. Do it again! Good Luck.

[JAK]

So I just finished a thru-hike a week ago and already am having struggles with returning to my life! I have a place to live, but no job yet, and I have a strong impulse to shake everything up. I don't really know what I want life to look like anymore.Sometimes what makes us strong on the barren makes us weak in the barn.

[zelph]

So I just finished a thru-hike a week ago and already am having struggles with returning to my life! I have a place to live, but no job yet, and I have a strong impulse to shake everything up. I don't really know what I want life to look like anymore.

The Mystery Chicken
GAME 07

You left the Fast Lanes of Chicago to enter a new life of Slow Lanes on the trails. Doubt very much if you will find Trail Magic in Chicago. You have a strong impulse to shake it up!!!!!! DO IT!!!! Shake it up, make a change. Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained. I grew up in Chicago, nice place to visit but would'nt want to live there. Don't be in a hurry to find a job in Chicago or the burbs. Come on up to Rockford, stay a month or two, campout in my back yard while you decide what you want life to look like. We'll make some stoves, watch the water boil, have some laughs. (my wife tells everyone that's my favorite past time, watching water boil:rolleyes: )

.

[Programbo]

Congratulations. Things that helped me with re-entry 4 times is to have another person to talk to that has thru hiked. Giving back of what you've recieved......

This is great advice especially now in this internet age..Back in the 70`s after a thru unless you wrote a book there was no way to share what you learned or what you did with the hiking community...You now have the chance to pass along your experience to others and give solid advice to those preparing for their own thru-hike next year...As mentioned a hiking club is nice to continue to be involved in the trail

[trekkngirl]

This is the hardest part of thruhiking, many of us never return. Prior to a thru people worry about bears or storms or what to eat. During a thru all you think about is food and how far you'll walk today. You become addicted to the white blaze. You have been as free as a human can be in this world, don't give that up. Avoid all of the cages that are baited with money and comfort and status. You'll be alright, you of all people, now know where the holes in the fences are and there is nothing more valuable than that, other than being cold, wet, tired, hungry and still happy. You're still on your thru, just now you make the blazes.

Great advice Blue Jay...and everyone else ..I plan to thru-hike in 2009 and this has been a concern of mine...although I am at a point in my life where a job change is due and I am so ready for that..but I have been concerned how the hike will effect my mind and how I will relate to the real world and if it would present a problem for me.I can't wait though!!

[The Solemates]

So I just finished a thru-hike a week ago and already am having struggles with returning to my life! I have a place to live, but no job yet, and I have a strong impulse to shake everything up. I don't really know what I want life to look like anymore.

Are there others with advice about the Return? What was your experience? Were there certain things you did that were helpful in making a balanced transition from trail life to non-trail life?

Thanks,

The Mystery Chicken
GAME 07


gotta push through it and do something productive with your life. get a job, go back to school...keep yourself busy. speaking from experience, it will be hard at times. dont be a mooching trail bum like a lot of thru hikers become.

[Mags]

Lots of good advice on previous threads:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15547&highlight=trail+adjustment
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15547&highlight=trail+adjustment

[Time To Fly 97]

Seems automatic on the AT to adapt to and derive happiness from changing terrain, weather and energy of the people around you. The constant seraton, dopamine and endorphin rushes each day makes you feel awesome too.

I recommend maintaining regular exercise so that you ease your body into a more physically relaxing lifestyle - this will help when you are used to all that saratonin and not getting it. I believe stress (and all its negative effects) are caused by feeling like you need to do something, but not having some or most of the solution out of your control. FS and Z are right on with taking a deep breath and really thinking about how you really feel about what you want to do and what will make you happy. Thru-hikers have an advantage in that they have experienced an almost perfect balance of mind, body and spirit - never forget this and use it as a guage to how you are feeling right now.

Event hough you have been out less than a year, this is a massive change for you. Take it slow, do a piece of the big picture each day instead of getting overwhelmed, and really try to see the good all around you. It is all there waiting for you to notice.

Congratulations on your thru-hike! How did we get so lucky to do something so awesome as thru-hike the AT? What a gift. Spend some time thinking about ways to give back. Good deeds and random acts of kindness always make me feel good.

Happy hiking!

TTF

[Footslogger]

I just thought of another thing to do right after your hike to aid in the transition ...organize all your pictures and notes (assuming you took some). Funny how once you get back into a routine it's murder to stop the world long enough to make that CD or DVD like you told yourself (and everybody else) you were going to when you got home.

Going through all that stuff is therapeutic and will fill the void of being off the trail after so many months on the trail ...

'Slogger

[hopefulhiker]

Amen to what Blue Jay said... As for me I am just a wanna be White Blaze Hopeful Hiker that only gets out a a few days a year on the AT... My mind is still out on the trail.. Even after a couple of years my mind still wanders back to the trail while I am going through the motions of urban living....

[The Solemates]

I just thought of another thing to do right after your hike to aid in the transition ...organize all your pictures and notes (assuming you took some). Funny how once you get back into a routine it's murder to stop the world long enough to make that CD or DVD like you told yourself (and everybody else) you were going to when you got home.

Going through all that stuff is therapeutic and will fill the void of being off the trail after so many months on the trail ...

'Slogger


completely agree. we spent three 18 hour days doing just this when we got back. now we have great narrated photo albums and it was really worth the effort.

[ScottP]

Give yourself a couple of weeks or even a few months before you decide to make any drastic changes. The brain can get pretty fuzzy post-hike.

[chiefdaddy]

After just 7 days out and then 9 days I was depressed returning to the "real world", my cure was to come to terms and become a PRO-HOBO :D I plan on teaching martial arts or doing whatever jobs I can in the off season(run out of money season lol). I figure once I complete a thru I will plan the next one or like my friend Mr.Parkey I will extend my adventure in a number of ways.

[DavidNH]

However you slice it, it's hard coming back from a thru hike.

One of the hardest things for me is that I could not really discuss any aspects of my hike with any family or friends. They did not go through the experience and just can't really understand what was and wasn't involved. Then there is the fantasy of the hike you read about in some books and there is the reality you actually fine out there.

I still think back a lot to my brother who came up to BSP to pick me up, hike with me to the top and take me home. He had noting but negative things to say about Millinocket, how desolate and end of the world it was, and he didn't even hike up the peak with me..just sort a ran ahead. Millinocket is in fact the largest town you will see on your hike in Maine.

If I where to offer advice.. it would be 1) give your self time when you get back, and if possible do a few trips to places along the trail where you can see trail towns and/or trail hikers. It's a bit different with hind sight perspective.

I don't know if this post is at all helful to you or anyone else..but it's just my perspective.

David (snickers)

[ChinMusic]

As a none thru-hiker, but planning on such upon retirement, these stories sound similar to those who have experienced combat.

Interesting.....

[chiefdaddy]

I agree. It's another reason I value my hiker friends! They understand!

[Footslogger]

As a none thru-hiker, but planning on such upon retirement, these stories sound similar to those who have experienced combat.

Interesting.....

======================================

The withdrawall/change of pace-scenery process may be similar but fortunately no thru-hiker I ever knew fell victim to debilitating "post hike stress disorder" similar to that sometimes seen in combat vets.

'Slogger

[Colter]

I think one of the best ways to get over the letdown of your thru-hike ending is to plan new adventures. It doesn't have to be an epic, just an adventure that you can plan for and look forward to. Maybe section hike, do a shorter trail, go on a bike trip, etc.

For most of us, working and money is going to be a reality, but in most cases we can rearrange our lives a bit to accommodate many of the things that make us happy. Work towards a job and the life you'll enjoy the most.

[lunchbx]

I have thought about this often as part of my mental preping for my perspective through in the next couple of years and basically i just dont think i can do it. I have a hard enough time as it is getting through the day to day money/power/jerseylife struggle so i cant imagine reajusting after a through hike. I've been thinkin i could just turn around and head back then maybe make a right turn somewhere around oh lets say harpers ferry. Then it would be on till the pacific on the ADT. Obviously money would be a problem but i think i could come up with some scheme using my talents/abilities/mojo to get by and hike for the majority of my life. right now its a normal job though to pay off student loans so i can dissapear on the trail without bill collectors knocking on friends and family's doors.

[sloopjonboswell]

its reassuring to hear thoughts/advice on this topic. ive been feeling very lightheaded many mornings a couple of hours after i get up. the food is wonderful living back at home but i feel like my diet is really screwed up/really low energy/green stool 'piles.' sorry to be so graphic. i suppose i should be excercising. i really didnt expect to have much of a problem with readjustment as i was really looking forward to starting fresh. i dunno, i just really dont know how to feel and i feel so much. honestly, just wish i could transport myself back to the billville hiker feed. ha. thanks for the advice and support everyone. post thru hike... wow. how strange. any other tips would be greatly appreciated. much love -pike county:-?

[Jack Tarlin]

You're feeling light-headed shortly after getting up, Pike?

So what else is new?

From what I saw this year, you went to bed most nights that way, too! :D

Congrats on your trip and try to get up here for Trashgiving in New Hampshire; we'll see if we can cheer you up.